KSGU:Volume 9 Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Part 1
The poison called tabacco, which was once almost extinct in the old ages, still lingered in the days of Universal Century 0096. This was the result of tabacco quality improving as a result of the space age, like the reduction of tar to reduce the negative effects on the human body and the intricate machines, and the development of chemicals that combust at low temperatures in tabcco, but most people felt that the biggest reason for the revival of tabacco was the One Year War.
The generals frowning at each other in the Operations Conference room, the senators and government officials flabbergasted by the damage reports that ckept coming were the same as the frontline soldiers. To humanity, which lost almost half its population, and its latter half was at the brink of danger, tabacco became a solace that could reduce the pressure they never had before. The principle to ban smoking in government offices and the parliamentary halls were quickly abandoned, and in periods of war, tabacco stench were around, whether it was the conference rooms or the rest rooms. This bad habit continued even after the war, and in Dakar, there were continuous signs of senators taking at least on stick. Even the Settlement Issues Council, which involved important figures from both ruling and opposition parties, were of no exception—no, it was because there were a lot of experienced veterans from the War and after it, and the percentage of smokers were extremely high—it was already a common theme seeing the exhalted smoke float around the conference room.
“I suppose silence means consent…it’s fine, right?”
Even so, the smoke today was extremely severe. Ronan Marcenas waved his hand to shake off the smoke, and looked at the faces of the crowd seated around the round table.
“The military has also observed the destruction of the ‘L1 Junction’. The “Nahel Argama” is currently headed to the shoal space region, and a Neo Zeon fleet is out in full arms to ambush this. From this, we can conclude that there’s a high chance of the “Laplace Box” being in the shoal space region.”
32 members of the Senate Council were gathered at the 111 meeting room in the Dakar Senate Headquarters, and the ranks, led by Ronan on the Upper House Chairman seat, were the cadres of the respective ruling parties, their sleep dishriveled hair and droopy eyes lingering in the smoke. The time was GMT 0500 and 2 hours had passed since the phone call notifying them about an emergency meeting. The Settlement Issues Council, the bipartisan organization which deals with the many issues regarding Spacenoids, sends them to the Senate for clean up, and decided the fates of the Spacenoids that numbered in more than millions—they were what the media called the shadow parliament. It was not rare for them, who had such great responsibility, to gather in the middle of the night, and because of the terrorist attack on Dakar, many senators were already gathered here, which meant that there were no absentees. But when dealing with the topic at hand, many of them looked dull and unreliable, completely different from how they were when they were pulling votes.
All of them gave extremely awkward expressions, merely puffing smoke out, giving expressions that clearly showed they did not want to make decisions. It was true this was a common theme people would do when starting a meeting, but the topic at hand was not ordinary. These guys know this already, Ronan cursed in his heart. They knew that the strange happenings that had been around this past month were all because of the “Laplace Box”, and they knew that the end of all these events was right in front of them. He knew that all of them inherited their current positions from their ancestors, covering the secret of the “Box” together. In this sense, we’re the ones who have to clear the 100-year lie.
“In that case, please hurry in the mobilization of the space army and seal off the shoal space region. We’ll eliminate the Neo Zeon fleet, return the “Nahel Argama” to our military, secure the “Laplace Box” and then bring it under our governance. We’ve decided on what we have to do, and if nobody’s going to propose a plan B, I want to discuss about how to execute it. What do you think?”
The situation continued to develop during this time. It was an undisclosed meeting with guards keeping a tight watch, and Ronan still felt repulsed about having to mention the “Box” over and over again, but he could not let the senators look on with sleepy eyes. He said it with the intention of waking them up, but their responses were still slow. In the midst of this silence, when the sound of the clock ticking could ostensibly be heard, “It’s easier said than done to mobilize the entire army to maintain security.” A senator, who was also the president of the ruling party’s construction ministry, let out this vague voice,
“Looking at the nature of this incident, we mustn’t reveal this to the world, and we won’t be able to satisfy the condition of mobilizing the army. What do we do?”
“And Muar’s the current legislation chief!” The senator in charge of agriculture leaned on his seat beside the other man. “I don’t think the legislation council will agree easily, especially with the media raising the issues of the Second Neo Zeon war to shake the hearts of the people. If we’re to mobilize a large force, there’ll be looks from the people of the world.”
All their stares were gathered on John Bauer, seated opposite Ronan. This important man from the national defense committee, reputed to be the cause of shaking the hearts of the people, did not mind the blaming stares as he continued to look aloof. Ronan held back his sigh, “It’s because of this…” he probed his body onto the table as he said.
“It’s because Senator Bauer paved the path for us that it’s easier for us to mobilize the enemy. The recent spate of terrorist attacks has caused public opinion to lean towards the eradication of Neo Zeon. With the assistance of everyone here, I suppose we can break down the interference of the legislation council, right?”
Of course, these were not sincere words, all of them knew that Bauer’s actions were only to ensure the continual existence of Londo Bell, which his helped set up, an act for the sake of maintaining the military industry. Ronan did not continue to look at Bauer, who deliberately looked away, and looked at the faces of all those present. “Isn’t this too much of a wishful thinking?” One of the six female senators interrupted as she put out the cigarette on the ash tray.
“The media does adore Neo Zeon as they are biased towards Spacenoids. They’re still insisting on that old logic, saying that the source of all the mishaps is the incompetence of the Federation.”
“And it was just revealed that ECOAS was involved in the battle of “Palau”.”
“Using the term eradicate is very…the initial plan was to settle all issues gradually with the dissolvement of the Republic, right? If we’re going to do such an extreme action at this time, won’t we end up obstructing the space army realignment plan and have no support in this end?”
“The Vist Foundation has a clear view on all this, which is why they can control the Senate Council however they want to. How about we give up on ensuring the “Box” at this time and try leaving it again? If the “Box” is going to be opened, the Foundation will be grabbed by the throat.”
“But what Chairman Ronan said about this being a good chance to take them down is true. They’re fighting over a family squabble now, and they haven’t formally decided on a leader, right?”
“You say it as if it’s easy. If Neo Zeon is defeated, your party will be the first one to ask for a revision over the realignment plan, right?”
“You’ve been insisting that the money used to build a mobile suit can build many old folks homes, right?”
“This is already the instinctive action of the largest opposition party; it’s a different theme from what we’re talking about.”
This barefaced saying caused a tired amusement to ripple through the Senate room. Ronan slammed his fist into the table to negate that uneasy tremor.
“People, I hope you can understand the importance of this incident.”
The members hid their smiles and went quiet as they gathered their stares on the Chairman. Ronan cupped his aching fist with his other hand as he looked at the stares of the many people through the smoke of the cigarettes.
“We’ve been protecting the secret of the “Box”. The meaning of the existence of this Senate Council, the authority that can decide the Spacenoid administrations are all based on this. In the aspect of wanting to get power in our hopes to secure the “Box”, we’re on the same path as the Vist Foundation.”
Ronan stood up without letting anyone have the room to argue back. The photos of the Council Chairmans hanging on the wall entered his eyes, “Sometimes, I wonder…” and he immediately looked away to say calmly,
“If Zeon grew prosperous before the One Year War began, and if I took up this position before that, what would I do? Will I open the promised future in the “Box” to prevent Zeon’s insurgence?”
All the people seated at the round seat inadvertently felt chills and trned their faces away in an awkward manner. Ronan continued to look at the photos of the past Chairmans that had never changed, exchanged a short glance with his already deceased father, “Of course, the answer is no.” he answered himself and lowered his stare.
“Our fathers had this thought before, and continued to implement silence to protect the regimentation of the Federation inherited from our forefathers. But in the end, the One Year War happened. ‘Zeon assault can’t be predicted’, or ‘these happened before we knew about the existence of the “Box”’, we can’t use them as excuses. If we wanted to prevent them, we might have been able to do so, but the Senate Council sat by to watch half of humanity killed, and has the same crime as Zeon.”
“That’s…” an elderly senator spoke with a bitter smile. “Don’t tell me you never thought of it.” Ronan hushed up the other man, and slowly strolled down the circumference of the round table.
“And we, who had the complete inheritance, are unable to acquit ourselves of this crime. This is a guilt we have to bear forever, and we’re not allowed to bring it into our graves. As long as the Earth Federation continues to existence, we will have to bear the secret that taints our descendants with blood.”
Riddhe’s expression when he learnt the truth in that office lit by the sunset appeared for a fleeting moment in Ronan’s eyes. There were people putting their elbows on the table as they leaned forward, and there were those leaning on their chairs as they looked into space. They were children, but also parents; Ronan looked around and stared at the faces of these people, “This isn’t something we can leave it to others.” He continued, and set aside the face in his memory.
“It’ll be best if we can use this chance to get the “Box” and bury it completely. However, the more pressing thing is to maintain the current situation and prevent anyone from approaching the “Box”. This isn’t the time to consider the benefits for our political parties, or even our personal problems; we have a mission to protect this secret, and we’re betting on the billions of lives that died during the One Year War.”
He circled the round table once, and placed his hand on the Chairman’s seat that appeared in front of his eyes again. “I hope that we’ll have a fruitful discussion after we consider all these.” Ronan concluded and let his heavier body sink into the seat.
Nobody wanted to look at each other or speak up, but even so, the political considerations and the forces, tangible and intangible, supporting the council were not to be ignored. He thought of the costs and benefits of the options, whether it was necessary to protect the “Box” in such an adhersive manner, and compared it to the current reality; in the end, tired breaths merely came out with the smoke, and a silent time proceeded. At this moment, John Bauer lifted his head and spoke up for the first time on this day, “I can understand your concerns, Chairman Ronan.” Ronan had no intention of accepting the words of this old friend and colleague as he looked back with a wary look.
“But we’re able to get to the lowest seat of this senate because of the support of the people. If we act while ignoring the wills of the supporting parties, we won’t be able to fulfill the mission you said of, Chairman. At this situation, we need to first calm down and make our decisions—”
“What if Neo Zeon gets the “Box” while we’re doing so? Do you think you can use political means to overturn the Second Coming of Char? It’s rumored that that man has relations with the Republic.”
“That’s the point. If the Republic’s supporting from behind, there’s still room for negotiations, like the delay of self-autonomy or something…”
“And what if they ask for inordinate requests? It’s fine to continue keeping your votes for the sake of maintaining the needs for war, but I don’t want a replay of the One Year War to happen again.”
“You’re too hasty in your conclusions. No matter whether it has the “Box” or not, Zeon’s fate is flickering in the windlike a candle. It is rude of me to say so, Chairman Ronan, but aren’t you being a little too paranoid? It seems that you’re overrating the existence of the “Box”.”
Bauer said with an emotionless expression, and there were several senators around them showing looks that they understood this very well as they looked at Ronan. These unexpected words rendered Ronan speechless, and he suspected if these words were of reality as he looked back at Bauer’s face wordlessly.
Bauer was the head of the Defense Ministry, based in the Anaheim Electronics, and would be the one most scared of the opportunitists’ words when the space army realignment program were to be subjected to setback, but Ronan never thought that he would say this was just paranoid. Is he saying the restraining bolt and sacrifices over these hundred years were all the result of paranoia? Is he saying that the world won’t change no matter whether the “Box” is opened? That the tragedy of the One Year War will never be avoided no matter what? Do we fear something that has no value, threatening those who did not know its true identity? Are we flaunting our authority without purpose?
Impossible. The moment Ronan concluded, he had a fleeting thought this might be the case, and he temporarily felt the feeling of being dangled in the air. To a man like Bauer—the intangible block called the public, that firm, incomprehensible and entity might be the case. The words carved on the “Box” might just be a chain of words, and it itself had no power to change the world. The “Box” could only fulfill its power that can topple the current regimentation with the help of those people with the hearts to respond to the ‘promised future’. He knew all about this, but he continued to fear the “Box”; was it because he was a direct member of the Marcenas family that had a direct involvement in the “Box”, or was he feeling somewhat melancholic about the dream of the ‘promised future’ that still lingered in his heart? Ronan could not conclude as he looked forward with a stiff mask. At this moment, he discovered that the door at the edge of his vision was opened.
The door was forbidden to be opened until the meeting was over. Ronan looked over at the door together with everyone else, who turned around in shock, saw the face of a woman who passed through the door the guards opened without any concerns, and felt his gulped breath stuck at his throat
“Pardon me for interrupting the meeting.”
Martha Vist Carbine said this line to brush off the many stares on her as she walked over. Why is this woman here? Ronan glared at the guards standing at the door, looked at the officer’s uniform that proceeded into the room, and gasped again. There were three large stars on the rank, reflecting the light off his shoulders; this was not the first time Ronan saw the officer, and the latter overwhelmed the guards with his authority as he entered. This face belonged to the man, the Chief of Staff for the entire Federation military.
Even though he was the leader of the army brass that was under the command of the Senate Council, it would require lots of courage for him to enter this room. Ronan looked at the stiff expression of this Admiral, ascertained that he had the same interests as that of the Foundation, and turned his stare towards Martha, who was walking to the Chairman’s seat. This was probably the first time they met face to face, but Ronan did not feel this way. It felt as if they both involved the military, and Ronan had been able to see this face all this time. Perhaps Martha too felt the same way as she gave a thin smile, her eyes showing a trace of closeness, and she brought her face close to Ronan’s eyes. The tabacco stench filling the room faded away, and what came was a sharp agitating scent of perfume stimulating around his nostrils.
“I have something urgent to talk about, Chairman Ronan. Can I have a word with you?”
“Sorry, but we’re in the middle of an emergency meeting as well. Do say anything you want here, but keep it short.”
Ronan did not look away from the Senator who were scrutinizing him, and answered her with an unhushed voice. He had a thought ingrained deep within him, that if she were to gain the initiative here, everyone else would have an opportunity. Martha however smiled with an expression, indicating that she knew beforehand. “You understand too, right?” she muttered again.
“It’s useless to talk with these people. The “Box” is our family’s issue, and we have to settle it ourselves.”
Ronan resisted the urge to raise his eyebrows as he continued to stare at Martha, who narrowed her eyes as she seemed to have witnessed the proceedings in the meeting. “I have a secret way to deal with this.” she spoke without leaving an opening.
“If you allow us, Chairman, this plan can be executed immediately. Do you have any interest?”
“…You’re asking the obvious. This isn’t something a lady should be doing.”
“Women always want to be certain, especially when we’re lacking in time.”
She said sweetly, but there was a sense of urgency deep within her eyes. Martha too was anxious, and nobody other than her could experience this urgency to prevent the “Box” from being opened. Ronan sighed heavily, looked around at the faces that amounted more than 30, trying to find an opportunity to grasp a foothold, and used this chance to get up from the Chairman’s seat.
“I’ll be back.” He said to the vice-chairman beside him, but understood very well that he would not be coming back. He followed Martha out as the latter proceeded first, and walked out of the meeting room. He sensed the cold atmosphere of the term secret method, and as he felt goosebumps rise on his skin, he passed through the door. The unnerving expressions of the past chairmans caused his back to ache more than the cold stares of the other senators.
Part 2
The 3 dimension holographic map shown on the main monitor showed a straight arrow of light from the bottom to the top, intersecting an arrow reaching in from the left side. The intersection point let out a red flickering light, and the side showed the estimated time of arrival and the closest distance values.
“This is the predicted path of the Tenison fleet from Side 6. We just sent out a laser communicator signal 6 hours ago, so the values shouldn’t be wrong.”
Flaste Schole said. Since this was the man who was part of the crew that occupied the “Nahel Argama” just 5 hours ago, and intended to work with that fleet, there was no greater prediction than this. Otto Mitas got up from his Captain’s seat, and looked carefully at the many markers flickering on the monitor. Liam Borrinea and the other bridge crew held their breaths as they stared at the enemy’s fleet blocking their path.
“There are 9 Musaka-class ships, and another 6 different disguised ships of all sizes. They’re not holding bac on this large attack at all, and if we keep this up, we’ll face them head on in the shoal space region. The ETA is 0817…less than 3 hours.”
Flaste said as he looked at his watch and then looked over at Otto. Are you serious? The latter avoided the stare as he gave this expression, and proceeded to ask his sensor operator, “What’s the movement of Frontal’s squadron?” The operator started to work on the console Flaste worked on before,
“Looking at the final observations of the optical sensors, it seems they’re planning to meet with their own fleet. Considering the durability of the subflight systems, I don’t think they’ll head straight to “Industrial 7”.”
“What about Frontal’s mothership, the “Rewloola”?”
“It’s outside our range. I don’t know where Frontal’s fleet launched from, but looking at the plug-in fuel tanks of the SFS, my guess is that they’re 80,000km away from the main leet. It’ll take them half a day to proceed here at maximum speed.”
“I heard that the “Rewloola” is bringing 2 Musaka-classes along. Maybe they don’t intend to meet up with Tenison’s fleet, but is headed to “Industrial 7” straight away. In this case, Frontal may use the “Rewloola” as a base to look for the “Box”.”
Flaste continued, and while Otto noticed the side of the man’s face that stood beside them complete, this man is younger than he looks he wondered about this completely unimportant thing. “What do you think, First Officer?” he turned behind to look, and Liam, with her hand on her injured shoulder, “It’s very likely.” She answered without hesitation.
“Once the squad regroups, they’ll head straight for “Industrial 7”. There’s a chance they’ll be stranded, but that’s a fine move not to scatter their forces. That man will definitely do it.”
“In that case, we’ll have to face one large fleet.”
The Captain’s simple summation of the entire situation brought a heavy and silent atmosphere upon the bridge. It had been more than 5 hours since they left the collapsed ‘L1 Junction’ and head off to the shoal space region. They did not have any time to think as they were too busy detaining the Zeon Republic soldiers in the ship and restoring the operations of each department, but at this point, the pressure came right at them. Otto felt abnormally awake due to the extreme sleep deprivation, and looked at the markers shown on the screen. While the “Nahel Argama” was wounded, almost devoid of its remaining ammunitions and transport vehicles, there were 15 enemy ships. He knew, without anyone reminding him, how reckless it was. “Aid from Londo Bell…I don’t think we can hope for it.” Liam’s passing words brought a heaviness worth sighing over beside Otto’s ears.
“Yeah. We’re the ones being hunted down by the entire military, and Fleet Commander Bright is being redeployed. There’s no one we can reason with; if we’re not careful, we might even be attacked.”
“But we know the location of the “Box”. As long as we report there’s a threat that Neo Zeon will capture it, Londo Bell can act independently, right?”
Mihiro Oiwakken said as she sat on the communication operator seat. Her firm expression showed that there was a need to say this, and Otto was dumbstruck by this. “It’s useless.” However, Liam first spoke up,
“If we don’t know the true identity of the “Box”, there’s no way we can determine the threat it brings. If we want Londo Bell to take action, it’ll have to be once we confirm the contents.”
“How can that be…! In that case—”
“There’s no room for us to make a detour and avoid the enemy’s ambush. If we don’t hurry to “Industrial 7” as soon as possible, Frontal will reach there first.”
Liam spoke with a voice not allowing for any optimism, and turned her stare to the Captain’s seat. Otto looked at her eyes that showed that she was ready to go all in, “How many mobile suits are we going to expect?” he asked Flaste.
“The maximum capacity for the Musaka-class is 6, and the disguised ships have varying ones, but they can probably hold about 3 or so.”
“In other words…” the sensor operator looked up at the screen, ostensibly calculating in his mind, “…72 of them.” and went pale,
“The only ones we can deploy are the “ReZEL”, the “Stark Jegan” and the “Unicorn”. They outnumber us 24 to 1…”
Liam muttered, and Otto felt the chill of despair rise from below his feet, creating a freezing atmosphere. “No, it’s 12 to 1.” He said as he left the Captain’s seat.
“We can still mobilize another 3 units.”
His magnetic soles landed on the floor, and he looked back at the stunned faces of everyone present. “The “Kshatriya”?” Liam asked in lieu of every person present, and Otto affirmed it with his stare.
“What about the other two?” The ECOAS “Lotos” can’t be counted in this as they can only replace the cannons.”
With Liam giving a suspicious look, Otto turned his back on her and looked towards Flaste, who seemed to have realized this. He approached Flaste and asked, “Can you help?” As the latter’s face cringed, Mihiro ostensibly swallowed some words and looked away.
“Your “Geara Zulus” are still around, and though one of them lost an arm, but it can still defend a ship, I suppose?”
“…Is this really alright? It’s said that those who betrayed once will do so again.”
Flaste answered with a bitter smile as he lowered his face. Otto too lowered his head as he looked at the expression devoid of any smiling intent. “I won’t force you.” He said as he reached his hand to touch his cap.
“We’ll immediately send a launch that will depart for the Republic’s army. You can ride on board and leave this ship as well. It’s all your ship.”
Flaste widened his eyes as he averted them, and lifted his head as if he was had. Otto however did not look at him as he turned to Liam and the rest, “The same goes for the rest as well.” He spoke with a voice that bellowed through the bridge.
“I said before that there’s no need to accompany me to my death over such a foolish thing, and this feeling remains the same even at this point. For those who want to leave the ship, I’ll lend a launch. Just tell me. In this space region, there’ll be a ship who can receive a distress signal immediately.”
The navigation and cannons operators seated at the consoles in front wordlessl looked over Liam’s shoulders and stared at Otto. If I don’t want to lose anyone else, how can I lose anyone? Otto suppressed the true thoughts rising in his heart, “But those who want to stay, please be prepared.” he continued and looked at everyone present.
“We’re the only ones present. As for whether we want to take action, or whether this is the correct decision, we have to decide it itself. Everyone has to think and make their own decisions. I won’t charge you on your responsibilities as a soldier, but the responsibility you need to take up should be in your hearts.”
There were people with unfaltering looks, and there were those who looked down in doubt. Once he was certain of their reactions, “Notify the ship. I hope all personnel leaving the ship are to gather at the deck in 20 minutes.” Otto finally turned to Mihiro and said this, and the petite figure answered in a flustered manner as she looked away. Otto removed his cap, let the wind blow on his heating head, and walked towards the window in front of him without looking at anyone else in the eyes.
There was still some distance to the shoal space region, and the “Nahel Argama” was surrounded by a stretch of endless space, without any space debris passing by. The “Laplace Box” that had the power to topple the world, the Second Coming of Char, the “Unicorn Gundam” that was the key to opening the “Box”—he reflected on the things that had nothing to do with him a month ago, wondered about how peculiar it was, and looked at the stars afar. His wife’s face appeared in his mind, but it did not bring about the pain he imagined; there goes my retirement funds this self-depreciating voice was the only thing that echoed in his heart.
